Method of making composite metal coupling members



y w. H. BARLOW 2,423,432

METHOD OF MAKING COMPOSITE METAL COUPLING MEMBERS Original Filed Sept.24, 1941 IIIIIIZIIIHI INVENTOR Patented July 8, 1947 METHOD OF MAKINGCOMPOSITE METAL COUPLING MEMBERS William H. Barlow, Waterbury, Conn,assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn, acorporation of Connecticut Original application September 24, 1941,Serial No. 412,064, now Patent No. 2,368,799, dated Divided and thisapplication July 15, 1943, Serial No. 494,803

February 6, 1945.

6 Claims.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 412,064,filed September 24, 1941, now Patent No. 2,368,799.

My present invention relates to the method of making couplings of theturn-button or bayonet type which are susceptible of general applicationhave found considerable use for detachably fastening aircraft cowlingand inspection plates which must be made readily removable. Where usedin securing aircraft cowling the coupling members should be aslightweight as possible and hence they have been made of aluminum or ofan aluminum or magnesium base alloy. When made of such metals, however,which, because of the relative softness thereof and the considerablevibration to which they are subjected in use, the wear thereon is greatand the useful life thereof is materially lessened.

ihe present invention accordingly has for its primary object the methodof making a coupling of the general type set forth wherein the essentialproperty of lightness will be preserved and the objectionable propertyof short life will be overcome. I accomplish this by making the couplingmembers basically of lightweight metal and making the parts thereofwhich are subjected to wear, of a hard wear-resisting metal. Where acoupling member is made to consist in part of lightweight metal and inpart of a hard wearresisting metal, I propose to make such member ofcomposite metal by so forming and uniting against separation thewear-resisting metal to the lightweight metal backing portion andthereby produce in a simple and economical manner a coupling memberhaving the desirable properties set forth.

The invention will be better understood from the detailed descriptionwhich follows, when considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings showing a preferred embodiment and wherein Figure 1 shows inelevation, with parts broken away, a coupling member of a type to whichthe present invention is applicable.

Fig. 2 is a View partly in elevation and partly in section of one of theparts used in making a coupling according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a side elevation of a cylindrical slug or blank used inmaking a coupling member according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of thefirst step in the assembly of the elements shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in themaking of a coupling member according to the present in- Vention.

Fig. 5 shows in side elevation an intermediate stage of the couplingmember in the course of its manufacture.

Fig. 6shows a diametrical section of the coupling member of Fig. 5 afterbeing further acted upon.

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view, with a portion broken away to bettershow a detail of a finished coupling member embodying the presentinvention.

Referring to the drawings, the reference characters l6 and H indicate apair of plates each having an opening within which is fixedly mounted inany desired manner a coupling member [2 and 3, respectively, through themedium of which the plates l9 and it may be rapidly detaehably connectedtogether. In this connection it may be mentioned that the plate It maybe a cowling for an airplane engine or the like, and the plate ii asupport or framework within which such engine or the like is mounted.

fhe coupling members i2 and i3 constitute a turn-button or bayonet typeof coupling and may be of any desired detailed construction. Suchcoupling members, however, usually consist of a male member and a femalemember having cooperating locking means and spring-tensioning means forholding the parts in assembled relation. As herein shown, the member [2is the male coupling member and consists generally of a cylindricalhousing i i, the inner end of which has a central opening through whichextends a stud t5, the end thereof which extends through the housing 54being provided with a crosspin l6 rigidly affixed thereto. The oppositeend of the stud is formed with an enlarged head I! provided with means(not shown) for engagement by a tool whereby the stud may be turnedabout its axis. Between the enlarged head ll and the inner end of thecylindrical housing It is coilspring is surrounding the stud I5 andnormally urging the head ll thereof outwardly with respect to thehousing. The member l3 which is the female coupling member likewiseconsists of a substantially cylindrical housing or socket member 19formed adjacent its inner end with opposed cam tracks 20 which terminateadjacent the highest points of the cams in detents 2|. Said socketmember !9 also has at its inner end a central opening 22 and adiametrical slot 23 disposed at an angle to the line joining the detents2i and adapted to permit the insertion through the socket member of thestud 15 with its crosspin I 6.

A coupling of the general type hereinabove described is old in the art,and the present invention is primarily directed to coupling members ofsaid general form which shall be exceedingly light in weight whilehaving its surfaces which are subjected to wear, formed of a hardWear-resisting metal. Zhe present invention primarily contemplates themethod of making such coupling member of composite metal in a simple,eX- peditious, economical and practicable manner.

In a coupling as herein shown, it will be appreciated that the camsurfaces 253 and the surfaces of the detents 25 on the cylindricalhousing or socket member l9 will be subjected to considerable wear andvibration in use and hence it is proposed to make that portion of thesocket member it which contains the cam tracks and detents from a hardwear-resisting metal such as steel, while the remainder or backingportion of said socket member may be made of lightweight metal such asaluminum or an aluminum or magnesium base alloy.

To make the coupling member E3 of composite metal having the desirableproperties of lightness in weight and wear-resistance at the surfacessubjected to wear, I preferably start with a cylindrical blank or slug2% of aluminum or an aluminum or magnesium base alloy and position overone end thereof, as shown in Fig. i, a shallow, substantiallycylindrical thin cup of a hard wear-resisting metal such as steel, thecylindrical wall of which is of a size to fit over said blank 25. Thebase of said cup is preferably dished inwardly, as shown at 26, and isformed with a central opening 23, and the side wall of said cup isformed with one or more openings 28, for purposes which will b presentlyexplained.

The assembly as shown in Fig. l is then mounted in a suitable pressprovided with cooperating dies of desired configuration, and force isapplied to the assembly in a direction longitudinally of the axis tosimultaneously deform said parts into desired shape, with theircomplemental surfaces contiguous to each t er to provide the compositesocket or cup-shaped member with the cam surfaces 2e and detents 2!. Inthe course of this force pressing operation the soft metal blank 2% isformed into cup shape with an enlargement 29 adjacent the base of theblank or rim of the resulting cup and the excess metal is forcedoutwardly adjacent said rim to form an annular fin til the under surfaceof which is preferably ribbed or serrated, as indicated at iii. In thecourse of subjecting these parts to the force pressing operation thesofter metal of the blank 23 which is made to constitute the backingportion of the coupling member is also caused to flow into and fill theopenings 23 in the cup 2.5, as best shown in Fig. 5. Thisinterengagement of the soft and hard metals serves to anchor theresulting backing portion of soft metal and the resulting crown portionof hard wear-resisting m tal, against displacement. The blank of Fig. 5is then subjected to a piercing or cutting operation which provides thecoupling member with the central opening 22 and the diametrical slot 23and. cuts away th annular fin 35;.

In the method of forming the coupling member l9 above described, thesteel cup is subjected to severe strains, hence I have found itdesirable to initially form the cup with a dished base 26 in order toprovide enough metal stock in that portion thereof to withstand thesevere forming operation, and I have provided the central opening at inthe cup to allow the metal of the dished portion to be deformed ordistorted radially and 4 thereby avoid too severe a strain at the outerend of the dished portion.

From an inspection of Figs. 1, 6 and 7 of the drawings it will beapparent that the cam tracks and detents of th socket member are formedin the crown portion of the member which is capped by the deformed steelcup and backed by the lightweight metal. Said cam surfaces and detentsare thus able to withstand the wear and strain to which the couplingmember is subjected in use. will be further appreciated that this crownportion of steel is relatively thin and adds but little to thelightweight character of the backing portion which constitutes the majorportion of the socket member.

From the foregoing detailed description it will therefore be recognizedthat I have disclosed a novel method of forming a coupling member havingthe desirable properties of lightness in weight d resistance to wear dueto friction and vibra tion, and while I have shown and described apreferred embodiment of my invention it is to be unde stood that I donot wish to be limited to the et 15 of construction and the method stepsdisclosed since these are only given by way of example and may be variedwithin the range of mechanical and engineering kill without departg fromthe spirit of my invention as defined by appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. The method of making a lightweight cornposi e metal unit having ahard wear-resisting urface from a cylindrical blank of relativelylightweight soft metal and a thin cup of relatively hard wear-resistingmetal having a cylindrical wall to closely fit over one end of theblank, Which method comp *ises, applying the thin cup over one end ofthe blank, mounting said metal parts in a press having cooperating diesof desired configuration and applying force to said metal parts throughsaid dies in a direction parallel to their axes to deform at least thecylindrical blank into a cup and'the composite parts into desired shapewhile maintaining a contiguous relation therebetween.

2. The method of making a lightweight composite metal coupling having ahard wear-reisting crown portion and a relatively lightweight soft metalbacking portion, which comprises applying a thin cup formed of a hardwear-resisting metal having a cylindrical wall and a deformed base toafford a greater area of metal therein to withstand a subsequentdeforming operation over one end of a substantially cylindrical blank ofrelatively soft lightweight metal having an external diameter to closelyfit within the thin cup metal, mounting said metal parts in a presshaving cooperating dies of desired configuration, applying force to saidmetal parts through said dies in a direction parallel to their axes tosimultaneously deform them into desired shape while maintaining acontiguous relation therebetween, and anchoring said parts againstdisplacement by causing portions of said parts to interengage eachother.

3. The method of making a lightweight composite metal coupling memberhaving a hard wear-resisting crown portion with cam tracks and detentstherein and a relatively lightweight soft metal backing portion for saidcrown portion, which method comprises, applying a thin cup formed of ahard wear-resisting metal having a centrally perforated inwardly dishedbottom over one end of a substantially cylindrical blank of relativelysoft lightweight metal having an external diameter to closely fit withinthe thin cup, mounting said metal parts in a press having cooperatingdies of desired configuration and applying force to said metal partsthrough said dies to simultaneously deform them to provide a crownportion having cam tracks and detents while maintaining a contiguousrelation between the soft and hard metal and anchoring said partsagainst displacement by causing a portion of the soft metal to flowunder the applied force into a locking recess in the wall of the cup.

4. The method of making a light weight composite metal unit having ahard wear-resisting surface, from a, cylindrical blank of relativelylightweight soft metal and a thin cup of relatively hard wear-resistingmetal having a cylindrical Wall adapted to fit closely over one end ofthe blank, which method comprises applying the thin cup over one end ofthe blank and having the other end of the blank projecting beyond thecup, mounting said parts in a press having cooperating dies of desiredconfiguration and applying force to said metal parts through said diesin a direction parallel to their axes, to deform at least thecylindrical blank into cup-shaped form with its outer surface incontiguous relation to the inner surface of the hard Wear-resisting cup,and provide the blank-formed cup with an outwardly-extending enlargementadjacent the rim thereof beyond the rim of the hard wear-resisting cup.

5. The method of making a light weight composite metal unit having ahard wear-resisting surface, from a cylindrical blank of relativelylightweight soft metal and a thin cup of relatively hard wear-resistingmetal having a cylindrical Wall adapted to fit closely over one end ofthe blank, which method comprises applying the thin cup over one end ofthe blank and having the other end of the blank projecting beyond thecup, mounting said parts in a press having cooperating dies of desiredconfiguration, applying force to said metal parts through said dies in adirection parallel to their axes, to deform at least the cylindricalblank into cup-shaped form with its outer surface in contiguous relationto the inner surface of the hard wear-resisting cup, and provide theblank-formed cup with an outwardlyextending enlargement adjacent the rimthereof beyond the rim of the hard wear-resisting cup and then piercingthe composite metal unit to provide a central opening and a diametricalslot in the base ,of the composite cup and trimming away part of theoutwardly extending enlargement on the blank formed cup.

6. The method of making a light weight composite metal coupling memberhaving an irregular hard wear-resisting crown portion formed with a camsurface and a detent and a relatively lightweight soft metal backingportion for said crown portion, which method comprises, applying a thincup of a hard wear-resisting metal having a cylindrical wall' over oneend of a cylindrical blank of relatively soft lightweight metal having adiameter substantially equal to the interior diameter of the cup andhaving the other end of the blank projecting beyond the cup, mountingsaid parts in a press having cooperating dies of desired configuration,applying force to said metal parts through said dies in a directionparallel to their axes to simultaneously deform them into desired shapewhile maintaining a contiguous relation therebetween without increasingthe diameter of the wear-resisting cup while increasing the outerdiameter of the blank adjacent the wear-resisting cup to lie flush withthe outer surface of said cup, and anchoring said parts againstdisplacement by causing portions thereof to interengage each other.

WILLIAM H. BARLOW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,131,319 Greenboltz et a1. Sept.27, 1938 2,150,524 Starr Mar. 14, 1939 1,334,051 Prime Mar. 16, 19201,316,877 Clarkson Sept. 23, 1919 2,232,973 Rood Feb. 25, 1941 1,854,271Michel Apr. 19, 1932 2,239,125 Summers Apr. 22, 1941 2,102,325 KylstraDec. 14, 1937 1,748,138 McBride Feb. 25, 1930 2,049,265 Kinney July 28,1936 1,610,569 Maynard Dec. 14, 1926 Certificate of Correction PatentNo. 2,423,432. July 8,1947.

'WILLIAM H. BARLOW It is hereby certified that error appears in theprinted specification of the above numbered patent requiring correctionas follows: Column 4, line 57, claim 2,"strike out the word meta firstoccurrence; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thiscorrection therein that the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of August, A. D. 1947.

LESLIE FRAZER,

First Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

